Note*: The total percentage value was obtained by summing the individual winning percentages (speed, price, and server count) in each round.

NordVPN Overview

NordVPN is among the most popular VPN providers in the industry today. The provider launched its services in 2012 and has since acquired millions of satisfied customers through top-notch privacy and security features.

1. Jurisdiction: NordVPN vs. ExpressVPN

Both of these providers are headquartered in safe jurisdictions, making them ideal choices for users that want to keep their privacy secure data surveillance agencies and ISPs keeping logs.

NordVPN

ExpressVPN

Panama (Safe)

British Virgin Islands (Safe)

NordVPN– based in Panama, a country located far from the clutches of 5, 9, and 14 Eyes, which actually have been involved in some pretty objectionably invasive surveillance practices over the years.

Panama does not have any mandatory data retention laws and that is all that a privacy-conscious user you and me really want, right?

ExpressVPN– headquartered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) which is a very privacy-friendly place with laws that don’t entertain any data retention laws.

The BVI and Panama are both pretty attractive locations from the privacy standpoint and the fact that both of these services have chosen these locations is a testament to their commitment to maintaining user privacy.

2. Logging Policy: NordVPN vs ExpressVPN

Result: Both have a strict no-logging policy

NordVPN

ExpressVPN

Strict zero-logs stance

Strict zero-logs stance

NordVPN has a user-friendly privacy policy, since the provider does not record IP address, time stamps, bandwidth, or traffic logs of any kind.

Their privacy statement is highly reassuring because it is hard to come across service providers that actually take the step of minimizing data logging of users.

ExpressVPN has always been known as one of the best in the industry in terms of its logging policy. Visiting the privacy policy page of the provider, it is immediately clear that no type of data that could lead to exposure of user identity or activities is being logged by this VPN:

Coupled with the fact that ExpressVPN is located in the BVI, these are good reasons to trust the provider to keep your privacy intact.

4. Speed: NordVPN vs ExpressVPN

The factor of speed can make or break a VPN. We conducted speed tests to analyze the faster VPN from these two. We performed tests on a 30 Mbps connection. More details are available on our Fastest VPN Guide.

NordVPN

ExpressVPN

US: 28.45 Mbps

US: 26.62 Mbps

UK: 26.07 Mbps

UK: 26.68 Mbps

Germany: 28.73 Mbps

Germany: 28.97 Mbps

Australia: 28.41 Mbps

Australia: 26.43 Mbps

Avg. Download: 27.91 Mbps

Avg. Download: 27.17 Mbps

NordVPN – Testing NordVPN on a US server, the service produced extremely impressive results with 28.45 Mbps of download speed.

The speeds dropped a little bit on the UK server, but it is still considerably fast at 26.07 Mbps.

ExpressVPN – The service is widely known for its fast servers and the results bear this out. It clocked in a 26.62 Mbps on the US server.

Testing it on the UK server, it recorded a download speed of 26.68 Mbps.

It is important to note that speed tests vary on a wide range of factors, so don’t take these results as gospel, but only as a ballpark estimate.

Since both VPNs delivered almost same results in terms of speed, this round is once again a tie.

5. Server Network: ExpressVPN vs NordVPN

NordVPN Servers – They have the largest server network among all providers in the industry, which is currently numbered at 5,500+ having a presence in 60 countries. The provider only uses physical servers which guarantee strong performance.

ExpressVPN Servers – Have one of the largest network consisting of over 3,000+ VPN servers in 94 countries. However, unlike NordVPN, many of ExpressVPN’s servers are virtual (see our article on physical vs virtual VPN servers for details).

So, NordVPN not only has more servers, but the entire network is powered by physical servers, making it the winner in this round.

7. Performance and Reliability

NordVPN – Comes with a decent app interface for all major platforms and operating systems. It is visually appealing and the app works considerably well without any bugs while also being simple enough to use.

ExpresssVPN – It has the most well-designed app in the VPN industry. It is simple, appealing without being excessively fancy, and is free from any kinds of bugs.

The responsiveness of ExpressVPN apps for different devices makes it a pleasure to use it and attain privacy. You can connect to any server of your choice within a matter of seconds.

Thus, this round is a tie once again.

8. Customer Support: Nord VPN vs ExpressVPN

Result:NordVPN live chat response time was 30 seconds, whereas ExpressVPN live chat was unavailable at the time.

NordVPN has excellent customer support through 24/7 live chat. The support staff is highly responsive and helpful, capable of resolving your queries instantly.

I tested their live chat to see how quickly they respond to general queries. They replied within 30s when I asked them (with a pseudonym) about their Netflix servers:

The provider also has a blog and knowledge-base full of troubleshooting guide and other information to assist prospective as well as existing customers.

ExpressVPN’s live chat support is an inconstant feature: it isn’t always available. There are times when the “live chat” button will simply open a box for sending an email-based query.

Since an email-based response usually takes longer (it took me an hour to get a response), NordVPN is superior to ExpressVPN in the customer support department as well.

9. Torrenting: ExpressVPN vs Nord

NordVPN is a good choice for torrenting because of the good logging policy, jurisdiction, security, and large server network.

However, for MacOS users, Nord VPN is not as secure for torrenting because of the lack of a system-wide kill switch.

ExpressVPN, on the other hand, has a great kill switch feature in addition to an excellent jurisdiction, and logging policy.

Although both VPNs are excellent for torrenting, ExpressVPN is a slightly safer choice for torrrenting owing to the fact that it has more servers for torrenting and also because of its highly responsive Network Lock (kill switch).

10. Netflix Unblocking: ExpressVPN vs NordVPN

Result:ExpressVPNis more consistent at unblocking Netflix than NordVPN.

NordVPN

ExpressVPN

Supports good quality streaming on US, UK, and other servers

Supports high quality streaming on US, UK, and other many other servers

NordVPN is a popular choice among VPN users who want to unblock US or any other region of Netflix. However, the service has experienced some problems being unable to unblock Netflix lately.

ExpressVPN, in contrast, has never had any difficulties unblocking Netflix from any region. You can stream all available shows in HD quality, courtesy of the fast server speeds and excellent unblocking capability.

11. Security and Features: NordVPN vs ExpressVPN

Result: NordVPN has wider range of features, but both offer strong encryption and tunneling protocols for resilient security.

The choice between NordVPN or ExpressVPN depends on a great extent on the level of security the two provide. First, we checked both services if they were leaking IP/DNS (read VPN leak test guide for more details).

NordVPN came out clean in this test. Connecting to a France (Paris) server, the leak test tool detected the new French IP address which shows that the actual IP is not getting leaked.

ExpressVPN also defends strongly against any IP/DNS leaks:

Both providers have a lot of excellent features in common including:

AES-256 encryption

OpenVPN and IKEv2 tunneling protocols

Obfuscated servers

IP/DNS leak protection

P2P support

Browser extension

Killswitch

Other than these commonalities, NordVPN has the following distinguishing features that ExpressVPN doesn’t have:

12. Transparency: Nord vs ExpressVPN

The element of transparency is seldom taken account of in the world of VPNs which is ironic because it should be one of the primary rating criteria of a VPN’s credibility. Our VPN transparency guide contains extensive research on which VPNs have transparency and which are lacking in this department.

NordVPN – The provider has never published a transparency report over its tenure, but it is clear that the company is owned by Tefincom S.A.

NordVPN has successfully undergone independent audits which is refreshing to see for a VPN service.

In addition, they have a warrant canary which is basically just a clever way of letting users know if the service has received any gag orders or data requests from agencies.

All in all, the provider has good transparency, but it can certainly do better in this regard.

ExpressVPN – The provider claims to be owned by Express VPN International Ltd, a company based in British Virgin Islands.

Although the provider hasn’t undergone complete audits of its business, the Chrome VPN extension of the service was actually tested by a cybersecurity firm Cure53, the results of which came out positive.

As such, ExpressVPN has built credibility on firm foundations, but there is still room for improvement in its transparency. Perhaps the provider can start publishing annual reports and warrant canaries?

Osama Tahir

Author

Osama Tahir's Biography :

Osama is a staunch believer in the inalienable right of every citizen to freedom of expression. Writing about online privacy and security without regard to political correctness is his answer to the powers that be threatening our freedom. Deeply curious about Nature and the Universe, he is fascinated by science, intrigued by mathematics, and wishes to play guitar like Buckethead in some alternate version of reality.